He was a racist who described Nelson Mandela's freedom fighting group as a bunch of terrorists. When white racists in apartheid South Africa were clubbing, assassinating, and murdering fighters of apartheid, Reagan gave MONEY and MILITARY SUPPORT to the apartheid regime. He also helped increase homelessness by lowering aid to subsidized and affordable housing, despite increasing the budgets of the military. Here is some past info on Reagan...........
https://www.pacifica.org/programs/dn/040611.html
Allied with Apartheid: Reagan Supported Racist South African Gvt
Throughout his presidency, Reagan supported the apartheid government in South Africa and even labeled Nelson Mandela's African National Congress a notorious terrorist organization. We speak with South African activist Father Michael Lapsley who lost his hands, one eye and was burned severely in an assassination attempt under the De Klerk government.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela recently announced that he was retiring from public life. And Mandela will not be among the foreign dignitaries attending services for Ronald Reagan. After all, Mandela was languishing in a South African prison throughout the duration of Reagan's presidency. But this history has been effectively re-written in the US. The dominant view is that the US was on the right side in South Africa, that it opposed apartheid. But nothing could be further from the truth, particularly when Reagan was president. Reagan labeled Mandela's African National Congress a notorious terrorist organization, while continuing Washington's support for the apartheid regime. In 1981, Reagan explained to CBS that he was loyal to the South African regime because it was "a country that has stood by us in every war we've ever fought, a country that, strategically, is essential to the free world in its production of minerals."
But even as the majority of the American people came to oppose South Africa's apartheid regime, Reagan stood by his friend. African American leaders and organizations pressured Congress to take action and ultimately it passed sanctions against South Africa. True to form, Reagan vetoed the bill. But to Reagan's shame, Congress overrode the veto. Today, we are going to look at Reagan's support for apartheid South Africa with one of the victim's of that regime-Father Michael Lapsley. In 1990, three months after the release of Nelson Mandela, the De Klerk Government sent Father Lapsley a package containing two magazines. Inside one of them was a highly sophisticated bomb. When Lapsley opened the magazine, the explosion brought down ceilings in the house and blew a hole in the floors and shattered windows. It also blew off both of the priest's hands, blew out one of his eyes and burned him severely. He flew in from South Africa last night and now joins us in our firehouse studio.
https://www.pacifica.org/programs/dn/040611.html
Allied with Apartheid: Reagan Supported Racist South African Gvt
Throughout his presidency, Reagan supported the apartheid government in South Africa and even labeled Nelson Mandela's African National Congress a notorious terrorist organization. We speak with South African activist Father Michael Lapsley who lost his hands, one eye and was burned severely in an assassination attempt under the De Klerk government.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela recently announced that he was retiring from public life. And Mandela will not be among the foreign dignitaries attending services for Ronald Reagan. After all, Mandela was languishing in a South African prison throughout the duration of Reagan's presidency. But this history has been effectively re-written in the US. The dominant view is that the US was on the right side in South Africa, that it opposed apartheid. But nothing could be further from the truth, particularly when Reagan was president. Reagan labeled Mandela's African National Congress a notorious terrorist organization, while continuing Washington's support for the apartheid regime. In 1981, Reagan explained to CBS that he was loyal to the South African regime because it was "a country that has stood by us in every war we've ever fought, a country that, strategically, is essential to the free world in its production of minerals."
But even as the majority of the American people came to oppose South Africa's apartheid regime, Reagan stood by his friend. African American leaders and organizations pressured Congress to take action and ultimately it passed sanctions against South Africa. True to form, Reagan vetoed the bill. But to Reagan's shame, Congress overrode the veto. Today, we are going to look at Reagan's support for apartheid South Africa with one of the victim's of that regime-Father Michael Lapsley. In 1990, three months after the release of Nelson Mandela, the De Klerk Government sent Father Lapsley a package containing two magazines. Inside one of them was a highly sophisticated bomb. When Lapsley opened the magazine, the explosion brought down ceilings in the house and blew a hole in the floors and shattered windows. It also blew off both of the priest's hands, blew out one of his eyes and burned him severely. He flew in from South Africa last night and now joins us in our firehouse studio.